wfn.org | Middle East needs more attention from local churches, bishop says

[NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG]

Dec. 21, 2000 News media contact: Linda Bloom·(212) 870-3803·New York
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NOTE:  Photos are available for use with this story at
http://umns.umc.org/Jerusalem/index.htm .

By United Methodist News Service

In the aftermath of an eye-opening trip to the Middle East, United Methodist
Bishop William Oden hopes that more can be done to raise the consciousness
of local congregations about that region's people and problems.

As president of the denomination's Council of Bishops, Oden was part of a
high-level delegation of American church leaders visiting Jerusalem,
Bethlehem and Gaza and the West Bank during the Dec. 7-12 trip. The purpose
of the visit was to express solidarity with Christian churches there and
join those calling for renewed efforts to a peaceful solution to the
Israeli/Palestinian crisis.

On Dec. 20, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators met with President Clinton
at the White House in an attempt to reach a settlement before Clinton leaves
office in January.

For Oden, who had last been in Jerusalem for a Methodist-Anglican dialogue
meeting eight years ago, the trip "was a life-changing experience.

 "It's one thing to read news reports in the United States;" the bishop told
United Methodist News Service. "It's another thing to be with families whose
homes have been destroyed, parents whose children have been killed or maimed
and to visit with Palestinians and Israelis and to see the fear in their
eyes."

The "pressure cooker" situation was evident, he said, while visiting such
places as Jaballa refugee camp in Gaza, where 93,000 Palestinians are
crammed into a one-square mile space, and witnessing "how the Palestinian
villages are being strangled," with access to food, medical supplies and
jobs being cut off.

"I had the same feeling as we went through the West Bank and Gaza as I had
when I visited the townships around Johannesburg, (South Africa)," he added.

Other perspectives of the situation came to the delegation through
conversations with Israeli political and religious leaders. "We came back
convinced there can be no Palestinian freedom without Israeli security and
there can be no Israeli security without Palestinian freedom," Oden said.

For Oden, the most memorable part of the visit came on Dec. 10, when the
Christian and Muslim communities in Bethlehem planned a joint candlelight
procession into Manager Square. The delegation, which had found the square
deserted two days earlier, joined a swelling crowd of more than 1,000
persons. "We all together processed into Manger Square for prayers and
carols," he recalled.

One of the immediate changes that Oden hopes will occur in the region is the
renewal of tourism, which basically stopped this fall because of violence
and security issues. He believes both Israelis and Palestinians will work to
assure the safety of tour groups and encourages United Methodists
participating in Holy Land tours to make an effort to connect with both
peoples.

Oden also would like to strengthen denominational ties to the Middle East.
He praised the work of the Rev. Sandra Olewine, a United Methodist Board of
Global Ministries missionary working with both Catholic Relief Services and
a Lutheran congregation in Jerusalem.

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United Methodist News Service
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